The Dark Detective: Venator (The Max Darke Files)

by Jane Harvey-Berrick

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” said Sophie. “Where did you get a coat with the Eye of Horus embroidered into the lining?”

  “It’s just an ordinary coat,” said Max shrugging. “The Eye was embroidered by my g... by a friend. I didn’t even know it was going to give me such powerful protection.”

  “It must be nice to have your g... friend... do your embroidery,” said Sophie, her eyes glittering with amusement.

  Max, blushing furiously, buried his head behind his computer screen until he was sure he could meet Sophie’s eyes without blinking unnaturally quickly.

  It took several minutes.

  “So,” he said at last. “There’s no word from the PTBs; I think we’d better go and see your pal Nerissa.”

  “Oh, super,” said Sophie. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her since you killed me on Tuesday.”

  Max was so tired, he immediately agreed to Sophie’s suggestion that they take a taxi to Nerissa’s flat above a deluxe patisserie in Old Compton Street. Putting taxi fares on expenses was becoming a bad habit – just like Sophie.

  “Do you think we should phone her and let her know we’re on our way?” said Max.

  “Oh, no!” said Sophie. “Let’s surprise her. It’ll be fun.”

  Max didn’t like the way she stressed ‘surprise’ – or he wouldn’t if it had been aimed at him. He’d experienced one of Sophie’s ‘fun surprises’ himself – and the ‘fun’ had nearly killed him.

  The patisserie was crowded and popular. Happy humans spilled onto the pavement with their exotic cakes carefully packed into cardboard boxes.

  Max wondered, in passing, whether his grandmother would enjoy one of the Macedonia cakes with nibbed almonds. He didn’t know what had to be done to almond to make it nibbed, but it sounded interesting.

  “God, I must be tired,” he said to himself.

  Sophie rang the doorbell that was discreetly placed next to a speakerphone.

  “Hello?” said a woman’s disembodied voice.

  “Nerissa, darling! It’s Sophie. Surprise!”

  “What do you want?” came the terse reply.

  “Why, Nerissa, darling! I thought I’d come and see my oldest friend, now I’m back.”

  “Yes, I heard about that,” said Nerissa. “Most unnatural.”

  “Look. Can I come up or what?” said Sophie crossly.

  There was a short pause.

  “Okay. But you’d better make it quick. I think I’m being watched,” said Nerissa, sounding nervous.

  She buzzed them in and they made their way up the beautifully decorated but narrow staircase.

  Nerissa was standing at the door, a vision of loveliness with wheat-coloured hair and dressed in a stunning gold lamé dressing gown that showed just a little more leg than was entirely decent. After putting his eyes back in, Max noticed that Nerissa had a large suitcase packed and ready to go in the hallway. They’d clearly interrupted her in the act of leaving town. Not a good sign if a Level Two demon was scared enough to head for the hills. It looked like Sophie was right about the President Elect. He hated it when she was right.

  Max couldn’t help but notice that Nerissa was stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, her aura rather spoiled the effect – it was a dirty orange colour. Max guessed she had tried for gold, but that wasn’t a colour available to demons.

  Max smiled to himself as he saw Sophie’s hackles rise. She didn’t like competition in the beauty stakes and Max had to admit, this new demon was a knock-out.

  “You didn’t say you were bringing a friend,” purred Nerissa. “Or perhaps he’s one of those delivery food services I’ve been told about.”

  “Don’t tease, Nerissa, darling,” said Sophie briskly. “You know perfectly well that this is Detective Darke and eating him would be very naughty indeed.”

  “You used to be fun,” said Nerissa with a bored expression. “All right. Make it snappy. What do you want?”

  Max spoke for the first time, breaking the tension between the two demons.

  “We wanted to ask you about this?” said Max.

  He took the amulet out of his pocket and held it towards the Malka demon – just out of her reach.

  “Ooo, it has power,” said Nerissa, her eyes opening wide. “It sings to me! Can I touch it?”

  “Not yet,” said Max. “You need to know what you’re dealing with first. This is the Mother’s Amulet – have you heard of it?”

  Nerissa nodded silently, her cornflower-blue eyes never leaving the amulet in Max’s hand.

  “I need to know if you can drain it of its power – so we can destroy it.”

  “I don’t know,” said Nerissa sounding wary. “It might not like me.”

  “What do you mean?” said Max, puzzled. “I thought you said it ‘sings’ to you.”

  “Yes, that’s because it’s full of evil. But mystical objects like this are made for one owner. They’re faithful only to that creature – and can be fatal to anyone who tries to steal their power. This amulet was made for the Mother. If my history is correct, it might not like me to even touch it.”

  Max felt disappointed. It seemed that another possible avenue of help was being cut off.

  “But, Nerissa, darling,” whispered Sophie. “How could you live with yourself if you passed up a chance like this? This really is a once-in-a-lifetimes opportunity. Oh well, you’re probably right – it would be far too risky for you. We’ll go and take the amulet to someone else.”

  Sophie had an uncanny knack of finding exactly the right words. Well, sometimes.

  Max saw the greed in Nerissa’s eyes and the unbearable desire to touch, wear and possess such an object. She licked her lips nervously.

  “Okay. Let’s say I do this,” said Nerissa. “What’s in it for me?”

  “You mean other than unlimited powers?” said Sophie, sounding rather envious.

  “I’ll renew your Demon Passport,” said Max, “one hundred and fifty years, no questions asked.”

  The combined offer was more than Nerissa could stand.

  “I’ll do it!” she said.

  She took the amulet from Max with trembling hands. Her eyes blinked in surprise as she touched it.

  “It’s not complete,” she said.

  “We know that,” said Sophie impatiently.

  “So why are you asking me, Miss Know-it-all,” said Nerissa. “This amulet is powerful but it isn’t complete. Is there anything else you’d like to know, or do you want a drawing, as well?”

  Sophie’s aura practically fizzed in fury and Max couldn’t help smiling to himself.

  Looking smug, Nerissa placed the heavy, gold chain around her delicate neck. She started to glow with a blood-red light.

  “It likes me,” she crooned, “it wants me.”

  Suddenly all the lights in the flat went out and the bulbs shattered simultaneously.

  “Uh oh,” said Sophie, under her breath.

  She started edging backwards behind Max. “You might want to think about taking cover, Max, darling,” said Sophie.

  Nerissa started wailing and Max could tell she was in pain. Her hair seemed to be on fire and her fingernails became 10 bright points of light.

  Then there was a loud bang and Max hit the deck instinctively. A cloud of acrid, black smoke clung to the ceiling and a large burn mark glowed softly on the carpet where Nerissa had been standing.

  “Did it work?” said Sophie. “Has the amulet gone?”

  “No. It’s lying on the carpet.”

  “Well, douse it with the holy water. See if she managed to drain it of any of its power,” said Sophie, who was never one to waste an opportunity. “Quickly!”

  Max pulled the holy water out of his weapons’ bag, took aim, and emptied the bottle over the amulet, drenching the carpet in the process.

  He felt as if he’d hit a rock with an axe: the shock travelled up his arm and he dropped the water container, his fingers numb.

  “Nope,” he said. “S
till in one piece – which is more than I can say for Nerissa.”

  “Pity,” said Sophie. “Some you win, some you lose.”

  Changing the Guards

  “What do we do now?” said Sophie.

  “I don’t know about you,” said Max, “but I’m going home.”

  “That sounds like a lovely idea, Max, darling,” said Sophie cheerfully.

  “You’re not invited,” said Max rudely. “I’m going to check some of my reference books.”

  “But... but what will I do all by myself?” said Sophie. “I can’t go back to my lair – not now everyone knows about me. You said you’d protect me – you promised!”

  Max sighed. The last thing he wanted was a Level Two demon in his apartment whilst he worked – and possibly rested for an hour or two. That was just plain suicidal and went against every bit of training he’d ever had.

  “Please, Max, darling,” whispered Sophie. “I promise I’ll be good – well, as good as I can be.”

  Max recognised the genuine fear in her voice. He sighed again – it probably wasn’t safe to let her fend for herself at the moment. Besides, she knew too much.

  “All right,” he said grudgingly. “You can stay, but let’s get one thing clear. You do exactly what I say, when I say it.”

  “Of course, Max, darling! I’ll be the perfect house guest. You’ll hardly even know I’m there.”

  Max groaned inwardly. He very much doubted that. Sophie wasn’t the type of demon that anyone could easily overlook.

  The evening air was cool and the stars were out. Max and Sophie took the bus back to Lambeth. Even Sophie was drooping slightly and had hardly even got the energy to complain about the mode of transport, although she did manage to point out that she never, ever came to this part of London – south of the river!

  “It makes me very uncomfortable,” she moaned.

  To be fair, Max thought she did look unusually pale. It had been a long day for her, too, what with being brought back to life and finding out that she was the Saviour of the world, not to mention watching her best friend spontaneously combust. Well, perhaps not entirely spontaneously.

  When they arrived at Max’s flat, he had to spend several minutes undoing the protection spells that kept demons from running amok in his apartment.

  Finally, he let Sophie enter.

  “Oh, this is much nicer than I imagined,” said Sophie, sounding surprised and impressed. “Hmm. Is that settee Italian? And an Alessi kettle, too. Who’d have thought you had so much good taste, Detective.”

  Since taking this job, Max had felt that his flat was a sanctuary against the world: he felt invaded to have this creature wandering around his kitchen.

  “Just don’t touch anything,” he said crossly. “You’re here on sufferance only.”

  “The Professor was right about you,” said Sophie, raising one exquisite eyebrow, “you really don’t have any manners.”

  Max felt his anger leap to the fore. He knew she was just getting him back for his rudeness. It was annoying that she knew enough about him to get under his skin so quickly. That’s why it was always good practice to keep demons at arm’s length. Not this demon, though. He needed her. Even so, it was unnerving to have her wandering around his flat.

  “I’d better not tell Gran about this,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Oh, I adore grandmothers,” said Sophie, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

  Max silently cursed himself. He’d made the rookie mistake of forgetting that demons had superhuman hearing.

  He ignored her. It was becoming a habit.

  Sophie smiled to herself.

  She picked up the Latvian rock monster that he’d left on his desk to use as a paperweight.

  “Cute pet,” she said.

  “Yeah, it was a surprise gift,” said Max.

  “I hope you’ve got a cage for it,” said Sophie. “I don’t want my brain sucked out in the night.”

  “I’ve put a sealing spell on it,” said Max. “It can’t hurt anyone whilst it’s in the flat.”

  “Poor little rock monster,” cooed Sophie quietly, stroking the ugly pebble. “All caged up – powers all muzzled, just like poor little me.”

  For a second Max felt sorry for Sophie. He quickly shook off the feeling, reminding himself that she was a vicious killer who would enjoy ripping his still-beating heart out of his rib cage and bouncing it along the street.

  “Where did you get it?” said Sophie. “Latvian Rock Monsters are quite rare – I suppose you do know that they absorb whatever energy source they come near – demonic, of course.”

  Max frowned. He’d assumed that as she’d been sent by the PTBs, then she should have known about the rock monster, too.

  “Actually,” said Max, “The PTBs threw it through my window... with this message attached.”

  He pulled the rumpled note from his waste paper basket where he’d tossed it the previous night: the note summoning him to their early morning meeting.

  Sophie was amused.

  “The PTBs contacted you by throwing a Latvian Rock Monster through your window? That’s a bit low rent, I’d say, darling. Why is that, do you think? Perhaps they’re working undercover!”

  She raised an exquisite eyebrow in amusement.

  She was right. Again. It was odd.

  An uneasy peace settled over Max’s flat, like a light mist that might lift at any time.

  Sophie was curled up, cat-like in an oversize easy chair and laughing like a drain. Her laugh was so at odds with her sweet, well-modulated speaking voice. Max suspected that the gurgling, choking laugh was the real Sophie. It made him shiver.

  She was watching a reality TV programme that involved celebrities demeaning themselves to win votes. She said she liked it because a demon friend of hers, who was a TV producer, had come up with the format. Max wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her. He did know that she didn’t take friendship too seriously. Nerissa’s passing had hardly raised her pulse, let alone any sign of regret. Mind you, Level Two demons had supernaturally slow pulses; it was one of the reasons their skin was always so cold to the touch.

  Thinking of Nerissa jogged his memory.

  “How do you think Nerissa knew about the amulet not being ‘finished’?”

  Sophie frowned.

  “Yes, I’ve been wondering about that. It’s not uncommon for amulets to come in two pieces, especially if they’re very powerful mystical objects. If the Mother puts both together, I suppose we’ll have an apocalypse after all.”

  “What is it with you demons and apocalypses?” said Max.

  Sophie bristled immediately.

  “Don’t lump me in with all those world-ending types! May I remind you that you asked me for help, not the other way round. I was innocently minding my own business...”

  “Come off it, Sophie,” laughed Max. “You can’t use ‘innocent’ in the same sentence where you mention yourself. I never had you down for a hypocrite.”

  Sophie’s eyes blazed with fury. She held Max’s gaze for several uncomfortable seconds, then stalked off to sit stiffly in her chair, and resumed watching a game show.

  Max paced up and down, throwing suspicious glances at Sophie. He was tired and his nerves were shredded but adrenalin was making him act like he’d had a dozen espressos on the trot.

  Eventually Sophie gave up trying to watch her programme and turned her now doe-like eyes on Max.

  “For goodness sake, Max, darling. You’ll wear out this exquisite loop-pile carpet. Relax!”

  “Easier said than done,” he said bitterly. “The President Elect is arriving in a few hours and we still have no idea how to destroy the amulet; let alone knowing when, where, how or if the Mother will rise. The world as we know it could cease to exist and succumb to everlasting darkness.”

  “Oh, you’ll think of something,” said Sophie carelessly. “You’re good at this last-minute, improvisation stuff.”

  “But what if I don’t think of someth
ing?” said Max.

  He had surprised himself by speaking his innermost thoughts out loud.

  Sophie stared. She wasn’t used to him talking to her like that. His honesty made her feel uncomfortable. Exaggeration and aggrandisement were a demon’s stock in trade; honesty, conscience, truth – these were preserves of humans. But his seriousness forced her to form an answer.

  “Oh really! Perhaps you’re right; perhaps the world is going to end. But do you think that having you whining away, like all the other stupid human sheep, all exhausted and pathetic and needy will help us?” she replied, brutally. “If you can’t do anything useful, at least go and have a rest. This time tomorrow you’ll either be dead – or you won’t. Annoying me whilst I’m watching television won’t help.”

  He stared back. Then started to laugh. He laughed long and hard until he was gasping for breath.

  A smile broke out on Sophie’s lovely face.

  “Why, Max, darling! I made you laugh! How sweet!”

  “Sophie,” he finally managed to say, “you’re good for me, you really are.”

  “Max! What a simply horrid thing to say,” she said, still smiling. “But I suppose it’s as close to a compliment as I’ll get from you – and a lady never likes to say ‘no’ to one of those.”

  Max felt the tension slip away from him and he relaxed for the first time in two days.

  Leaving Sophie happily playing with the remote control, he had a long, hot shower, letting the scalding water massage the stiffness from his shoulders. He dressed quickly and lay fully clothed on the bed.

  “Just five minutes,” he said to himself and promptly fell into a deep sleep.

  He awoke suddenly. The flat was quiet. Too quiet. What was Sophie doing now? He listened intently, expecting to hear the low hum of the TV or the sound of the grind of the coffee machine.

  But the flat was silent and empty. Sophie had gone.

  He flung the door to his sitting room open. Max stared in disbelief as if expecting that Sophie might suddenly leap out from behind the settee, shouting, “Fooled you!”

  Max cursed his stupidity in trusting a Level Two demon, even for a second. He’d forgotten to replace the protection spells around his flat that would have imprisoned Sophie inside. Stupid, rookie mistake.